Performance art (Marina Abramović/Tilda Swinton)

[TomServo]

Performance art... most people tend to sneer at it -- just read the comments section of this article, which is about a performance piece by Tilda Swinton at the Museum of Modern Art. Called "The Maybe" and originally performed in London in 1995, it involves the actress spending an entire day sleeping in a box.

I remember reading similar reactions to the Serbian artist Marina Abramović's "The Artist is Present" performance piece (she basically sat in a chair and people at the museum could sit opposite her). It was the subject of an HBO documentary:

I find performance art to be strange but really fascinating.

What does everybody else think?

[bell-the-cat]

Re: Performance art (Marina Abramović/Tilda Swinton)

Available in America only.

Is it the one where she is in a white dress and sits in a chair beside a table, and scores of people with nothing better to do queue for a long time in order to sit opposite her (after being checked by security guards) and then stare at her for a few minutes while she stares back.

Tilda is wearing shoes I'm sure she had bare feet the first time around. Maybe her feet were better looking back in 1995 - at least one could have a good long stare to find out.

[TomServo]

Re: Performance art (Marina Abramović/Tilda Swinton)

Available in America only.

Is it the one where she is in a white dress and sits in a chair beside a table, and scores of people with nothing better to do queue for a long time in order to sit opposite her (after being checked by security guards) and then stare at her for a few minutes while she stares back.

Yes! Okay, it's a bit self-indulgent and pretentious but I found the reactions people had to be really interesting!

Tilda is wearing shoes I'm sure she had bare feet the first time around. Maybe her feet were better looking back in 1995 - at least one could have a good long stare to find out.

Maybe this is what her performance piece is about. It is called "The Maybe," after all.

But Tilda is so brave and astonishing, even in more mainstream fare like Michael Clayton. Her Damehood will be well-deserved!